Josh Mason | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality: | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth Name: | Joshua Mason Akinwunmi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth Date: | 19 March 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth Place: | Birmingham, West Midlands, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Module1: |
|
Joshua Mason Akinwunmi (born 19 March 2002) is a British racing driver who last raced in Indy NXT with Abel Motorsports. He is a race winner in Formula Regional Oceania, as well as both the Euroformula Open and BRDC British F3 Championships. He also completed a partial season of FIA Formula 2 with PHM Racing in 2023.
Mason began competing in karts at the relatively late age of 14, taking part in club racing before moving into car racing.[1] [2]
In 2018, Mason graduated to car racing, driving for Lanan Racing in the BRDC British Formula 3 Championship.[3] [4] Having made his debut at Rockingham, the Brit would return to the series for the second half of the campaign, managing to win the reverse-grid race in the final round at Silverstone after it had been abandoned due to heavy rain following two laps behind the Safety car.[5]
He stayed at Lanan Racing for the 2019 season, competing as the team's sole full-time entrant.[6] Despite this, Mason would manage to score three podiums in reverse-grid races, including a victory at Donington Park, where he overtook poleman Pavan Ravishankar at the Safety car restart.[7] [8] The Briton ended up twelfth in the standings in a season that, given his lack of overall experience, he described as "having gone well".[9]
Once again, Mason remained with the same team in 2020, this time racing alongside Piers Prior and Bart Horsten. Having been unable to prepare adequately for the season due to living with a high-risk individual at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,[10] Mason only scored a sole podium at Donington and finished 16th in the championship, behind both of his teammates.[11]
For 2021, Mason moved to the Euroformula Open Championship, driving for Double R Racing.[12] His best result came at a wet Hungaroring, finishing fourth, as he ended up ninth in the standings, significantly ahead of rookie teammate Zdeněk Chovanec.
The following year, the Brit made the switch to drive for CryptoTower Racing for the 2022 season, having stated that he had "learned a lot in 2021" and that he was "really looking forward" to linking up with the team.[13] He started out the campaign with three points finishes in Estoril, before a crash during the Pau Grand Prix.[14] Another retirement followed at Paul Ricard, caused by a collision with Alex García,[15] before Mason scored his first podiums in the series at Spa, finishing third in Race 1 and second in Race 3.[16] [17] At the following round, held at the Hungaroring, Mason took his first victory, winning Race 2 in dominant fashion.[18] [19] The positive momentum remained, with Mason winning once more at Imola and Monza respectively.[20] [21] He ended the season fifth in the championship standings, narrowly missing out on fourth to Frederick Lubin.
Mason returned to the Euroformula Open in 2023 with CryptoTower Racing for a cameo appearance at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.[22] He returned at the Hungaroring, winning the last race.[23] [24]
At the start of 2023, Mason joined the 2023 Formula Regional Oceania Championship.[25] He achieved one win in Manfeild, which saw him end eighth in the standings.[26] [27]
Mason was confirmed by PHM Racing by Charouz to compete in the 2023 Formula 2 Championship at Spa-Francorchamps, replacing Brad Benavides.[28] He was retained for the Zandvoort round.[29] After demonstrating decent pace throughout the first two rounds, Mason was confirmed to remain with the team for the final two rounds.[30] He secured a best finish of twelfth in the Monza feature race and placed 23rd in the overall standings.[31] He was set to remain with team for the 2024, but plans fell through due to funding issues.[32]
In 2024, Mason secured a deal to race in the Indy NXT with Abel Motorsports.[33]
Mason is of Nigerian descent through his father, and both Grenadian and Trinidadian/Tobagonian descent through his mother. Mason grew up between Sussex and the Cayman Islands, and played both football and rugby union in his youth before chest surgery prevented him from furthering either career.[34]
Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | BRDC British Formula 3 Championship | Lanan Racing | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 82 | 20th | |
2018–19 | MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship | MRF Racing | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 12th | |
2019 | BRDC British Formula 3 Championship | Lanan Racing | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 229 | 12th | |
2019–20 | MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship | MRF Racing[35] | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 176 | 3rd | |
2020 | BRDC British Formula 3 Championship | Lanan Racing | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 139 | 16th | |
2021 | Euroformula Open Championship | Double R Racing | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 89 | 9th | |
2022 | Euroformula Open Championship | CryptoTower Racing | 26 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 278 | 5th | |
2023 | Formula Regional Oceania Championship | Kiwi Motorsport | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 186 | 8th | |
Euroformula Open Championship | CryptoTower Racing Team | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 96 | 11th | ||
FIA Formula 2 Championship | PHM Racing by Charouz | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23rd | ||
2024 | Indy NXT | Abel Motorsports | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27* | 22nd* |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | Pos | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | nowrap | Lanan Racing | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | OUL 3 | ROC 1 | ROC 2 | ROC 3 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | SIL 3 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | SPA 3 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | BRH 3 | DON 1 | DON 2 | DON 3 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | SIL 3 | 20th | 82 | |
2019 | nowrap | Lanan Racing | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | OUL 3 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 | SIL1 1 | SIL1 2 | SIL1 3 | DON1 1 | DON1 2 | DON1 3 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | SPA 3 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | BRH 3 | SIL2 1 | SIL2 2 | SIL2 3 | DON2 1 | DON2 2 | DON2 3 | 12th | 229 | |
2020 | nowrap | Lanan Racing | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | OUL 3 | OUL 4 | DON1 1 | DON1 2 | DON1 3 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | BRH 3 | BRH 4 | DON2 1 | DON2 2 | DON2 3 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | SNE 3 | SNE 4 | DON3 1 | DON3 2 | DON3 3 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | SIL 3 | 16th | 139 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of the race finishers)
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | DC | Points | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
nowrap | 2018–19 | nowrap | MRF Racing | DUB 1 | DUB 2 | DUB 3 | DUB 4 | DUB 5 | BHR 1 | BHR 2 | BHR 3 | BHR 4 | BHR 5 | CHE 1 | CHE 2 | CHE 3 | CHE 4 | CHE 5 | 12th | 19 | |
nowrap | 2019–20 | nowrap | MRF Racing | DUB 1 | DUB 2 | DUB 3 | DUB 4 | DUB 5 | BHR 1 | BHR 2 | BHR 3 | BHR 4 | CHE 1 | CHE 2 | CHE 3 | CHE 4 | CHE 5 | CHE 6 | 3rd | 176 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | DC | Points | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | nowrap | Double R Racing | POR 1 | POR 2 | POR 3 | LEC 1 | LEC 2 | LEC 3 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | SPA 3 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | HUN 3 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | IMO 3 | RBR 1 | RBR 2 | RBR 3 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | MNZ 3 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | CAT 3 | 9th | 89 | |||
2022 | nowrap | CryptoTower Racing | EST 1 | EST 2 | EST 3 | PAU 1 | PAU 2 | LEC 1 | LEC 2 | LEC 3 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | SPA 3 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | HUN 3 | IMO 1 | IMO 2 | IMO 3 | RBR 1 | RBR 2 | RBR 3 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | MNZ 3 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | CAT 3 | 5th | 278 | |
2023 | nowrap | CryptoTower Racing | POR 1 | POR 2 | POR 3 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | SPA 3 | HUN 1 | HUN 2 | HUN 3 | LEC 1 | LEC 2 | LEC 3 | RBR 1 | RBR 2 | RBR 3 | MNZ 1 | MNZ 2 | MNZ 3 | MUG 1 | MUG 2 | CAT 1 | CAT 2 | CAT 3 | 11th | 96 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with L indicate a race lap led) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)